To Do List

Go to the water park in Moses Lake with the cool kids - check

Loose your second tooth at the water park - check

Revel in the joys of a chili dog- check

Be thankful for the big boys who were kind enough to let Aidan pal around with them- check

Have serious water fun with your favorite friends- check

Enjoy lazy chats in the not so lazy river- check

Enjoy more chatting with good friends and new friends in the grass- check

Boogie with the best of them- check

Make your mom proud (and nervous) by being so brave- check

Conclude Moses Lake's water park, being bigger and better, is good for the day trip but Hermiston will do for an afternoon soak-n-splash- check

Hide in the garage, in my car, to finish Wicked- check

Enjoy Art in the Park with your BF's- check

Play the part of A Boy and his Dog, even if it is a borrowed dog- check

Do a robot dance while you wait for your turn in the endless line at the zip line- check

Be thankful for the kindness of strangers who let your kid back in line after forgetting to hand off her puppet- check

Strike a pose like the celebrity you are- check (seriously, you can't take Powder anywhere without people mobbing him)

Give an overlooked Moo the new breed of Eur-Asian Ridgetick back to make him appear exotic- check

Hang at the Red Park with your shirt off because you're "boiling"- check

Giggle like a girly-girl because you are- check

Cut the chick out of the picture behind us because you can totally see up her shorts- check

Gorge on THE BEST TACOS ever- check

Laundry-

Grocery shop-

Shop for Aidan's birthday-

Get carpets cleaned-

Fix truck-

Install playground bark-

Finish new book-

Plant tree-

Practice revived gross out word-

Clean the fridge-

Finish THE BEST TACOS ever-

Sweep the back patio-

De-cobweb the flower beds-

Wrap up this silly To Do list- check

...

huuunggggkk- ahem- hhhuuuuuwwhach

That is me dry heaving.

Over what you might ask?

My dinner.

The one I made.

With love for my dear sweet Tony.

One of his favorites, homemade chili over baked (not microwaved) salt crusted potatoes topped with sharp cheddar cheese. I can hear the unmistakable collective mmmmmmmmmm.

When I opened my potato all fancy like down the middle and popped the ends to create a nest of potato-y goodness for the toppings I found this...

and no I don't know for sure what it is.

Maybe a fungus.

Maybe a genetic abnormality, a chimera of sorts.

It looked like a slug.

Inside my potato.

With no visible entry points.

EwwwEwwwEwww.

But I am a trooper.

I lopped off a chunk of Tony's and a chunk of Nadia's and I was going to soldier on.

Then I helped Aidan open his potato...

Inside we found what appeared to be a well cooked shelled clam.

Hhhuuuuuwwhach!

Did you know that kids' eat for $0.99 at Applebees on Wednesdays?

Did you also know that a grilled portabella mushroom looks remarkably like a slug?

row row row your boat

or have someone else row it for you is what I always say. . .

Yesterday Tony and I were at a loss as to how to spend the hot, beautiful day. We researched aquatic opportunities from Warm Springs Canyon (supposedly in Walla Walla) to Emma Lake out near Kahlotus. Swimming? Floating? Fishing? What to do! We debated about the water level of the Touchet this time of year and the floating merits of both the Snake and the Columbia. Nadia chimed in and voted ardently against the Snake because "Dad gets to distracted by the boats at the Snake River and uses up all of our time in the water and at the park". I protested the Columbia because of a deep seeded fear of that river after a spiders nest and dunking incident I won't go into today. I believe I finally was persuaded to try our oars in the Columbia after Tony swore he would take all emotional responsibility in the event that our children were simultaneously swept into an undercurrent, entangled in aquatic plant life only to become bloated balloons of drowning death despite life jackets.

I realize I may have been overreacting a bit, but like I said I have a profound fear of the Columbia.

Once again Tony was right. After purchasing two 2-man rafts complete with oars and foot pumps, 2 new life jackets for growing kids and a few snacks we were off to pump till our foots were purple on the bank at Chiawana park. Yes we looked totally stupid pump-pump-pumping among the jet skis, ski boats, party boats and sail boats but we were here for adventure.

At this point you might be asking yourself what happened to Tony's beautiful sailboat? It is currently tangled in bureaucratic Oregon and Washington licensing red tape and is dry docked next to our garage. Any who...

I insisted Aidan accompany me because lets face it, if this raft gets capsized Nadia and I as a duo wouldn't have a snowballs chance in Pasco's summer of surviving. And so we row. Tony gracefully puts oar to water and glides effortlessly up the current. And again he delicately slips his oars into the water and seamlessly back through the air pushing further upstream. He is a thing of beauty. Nadia is a little nervous and adjusts her position again and again but that doesn't stop his cadence.

And then there Aidan and I spin in circles, first left then splash. splash. thwack. right. Back to shore, out too far into boat traffic, left then right then curse curse curse!!! I look over my shoulder at my husband expecting an encouraging smile or a look of concern. No no no, not my Tony. He is bustin' a gut and can't even compose himself to offer a suggestion. Not that I would have taken his suggestions any way. Aidan, who lounged against the back of the raft offered to help but still we didn't make much head way. Finally we covered a stretch of wet and then Tony offered to tow us.

and thus my friends my plan worked. Muuhaahaahaa!

Yeah, I am kidding. There was no evil genius in this plan. I seriously can not row a stinkin boat. My arms are all googily catywhompus. I thought I had it but then there we'd be, spinning in jagged circles. My only reputable moment of the trip was when Tony's oar snapped (presumably from hauling the large caboose) I did jump into the fear-inducing water and swim to get the pieces. Ok, so I did throw a hissy fit complete with shouts of Eww! Eww! Eww! when my feet touched the slimy undergrowth as I tried to get back aboard.

Thank goodness I had packed my laugh.

We rowed up, jumped out, played, towed the kids as they kicked, snacked, floated back, marveled at the reeds, the homes and the sailboat wonders.

The trip was a relaxing, beautiful, silly, Bachartish, tan-evening delight.

I found it!

My laugh!

It has been lost for a while now.

It was buried under piles of stress, buckets of appointments and loads of responsibility. All of that is still here, I just pushed it aside to find my laugh again and now I keep it with me. Oh sure I could still laugh at really funny movies or a really funny story or laugh inappropriately and uncontrollably in a crowded conference while in a sleep deprived state but mostly I would just smile because laughing wasn't easy anymore. I wouldn't laugh at the little things. Like the little guy leading into this post, he elicited just a smile, but when I scooped his cousin off of Tony's shirt at Charbonneau Park and then uncurled my hand to examine him I laughed... out loud... with ease! He quickly leaped into Nadia's hair. She stood hands-on-hip with a 'COME ON PEOPLE' look on her face and I laughed again. Aidan laughed and I laughed more. Now that my laugh is found I am laughing all over again at the memory of laughing.

How boring life must have been when I saved my laugh only for the big things.

my last-first-lost tooth, not that this is about me though

There are no more milestones for my baby. Mind you that doesn't mean I will ever stop calling her that. Say goodbye my little one to the cuteness of little kidhood and hello to the gappy-toothed-gangly-awkwardness of big kidhood. She lost the tooth that has been wiggly for about a month now. The new tooth has been patiently poking behind this one for about as long. Getting the tooth out was a two man job...well three if you count Nadia since I only got it mostly out and she sat up and spit it the rest of the way out.

It was quite a scene.

As for the apple, well she wanted it stuck in the apple for the Tooth Fairy to see. You got me on that one.

while you were out meets you wish you had been

One month ago Tony's Dad and Becky came to visit for Nadia's birthday. I was at work but thanks to Sara for covering my afternoon class was able to come home at 11:00 to spend the rest of the day with Nadia. Upon arriving home I felt as if I was on that TLC show While You Were Out. What was once a stretch of rock flanking the side of our house had been transformed into a beautiful garden. A garden that houses three stunning hastas...that have even bloomed. What's more is that John and Becky planted a ton more under our not-so-lovely inherited trees. You can't see them from the shot below but I am sure you can imagine your own surprise if you were to walk up onto this grundgy-unkept hill and discover lush hastas and plant b (yeah, I am not a botanist people, I can not for the life of me remember what the name of the other plant is) tucked away. We are so thankful of John and Becky's gift and all of the hard work they put into it.So thankful that we thought it was a shame these beautiful plants did not have more of a showcase to live in.

Enter Tony and the bobcat.

This is where it goes from
While You Were Out
to
You Wish You Had Been Enter also 24 ton of basalt rock and 9 ton of crushed rock. Oh and please don't for get the 4 stepping stones or the 4000 pound boulder. No, no typo there. 4000 pounds people!!!

Enter too the sore muscles, burned shoulders and ears, chipped manicure and nasty blood blister.

But not the pictures of the completed project. Not yet anyway.

I do have these pictures to share...

You know the saying, while the cats away the mice will play?

Well in our house it is more like when the parents are otherwise distracted the kids will

be coveredinmud!

Thanks Tony for all of the work you do...in July...when it is 100 degrees...on your 4 day weekend.

I love you!

Finding the words for the little words that leave us wordless

Caution...
There may be words that make some uncomfortable and the possibility that the words will elicit uncomfortable images if you are a visual person. I for one will never look at goldie-mexi-fries the same again.
Proceed at your own risk.


Nadia heard the word gay. She didn’t know what it meant. I am the family’s liberal-black-sheep so this should be easy right. As parents, Tony and I have a fierce desire to raise children who are tolerant, loving and respectful of ALL others. I wanted to get this right, to choose the right words.

Me: Well Nadia, gay is when two people of the same sex love each other. Do you know what sex means?
Nadia: no
Me: boy or girl. A person’s sex means if they are a boy or a girl. So if two boys love each other or two girls love each other then they are gay. What do you think about that?
Nadia: (with a slightly skewed face) that’s kinda weird.
Me (in reality): no it’s not weird really. People just love who they love. I wouldn’t want someone not to love or not to be loved.
Nadia: SO WE’RE GAY! You and me, we are gay Mom! We’re both girls and we love each other so we’re gay.
Tony: you and mommy have mommy-daughter love. This is for when people are grown up, like married-love.
Nadia: Ooohhhhhhh. So we are half-gay!

I have no words for that one. At least not right then.

On to other news…

While I was rushing around trying to get the clothes laid out for the next day and get the kids into the shower I realize that we Bacharts were not alone. I heard my brother and Cooper in the house here to pick something up. (Mind you, I was getting ready for bed. I have not worn a bra to bed since I was nineteen and I was in my pj’s. You know the kind. The ratty ones that people outside your immediate family should not see you in because they are nearly thread-bare and I thought to myself, he is your brother, but come-on! He doesn’t need to see that!) I noticed that sweet Cooper had sprung a little leak, so I was off to find some clean pants suitable for a 2 year old boy. Again, rushing around…preoccupied if you will. Aidan said, “hey Mom, see my tater-tots” as he stood buck-behind-naked in front of me. Oh yes, he was talking about those tater-tots.
Me: hmmmm, yeah I do. Where have you heard them called tater-tots?
Aidan: no where. I just made it up. Don’t they look like tater-tots?

No words for that one either.